Quandary
by shades of live
Summary: What was life without a little risk...?
1. 1

What was life without a little risk? Kuroba Kaito chuckled to himself as he slid the familiar clothes of the high school detective over his body, smoothing his hair once more for redundancy as he examined himself in the mirror. To say that this wasn't one of his favorite disguises would be an outright lie—it was refreshing every so often to arrive to a heist bare-faced.

Be that as it may, that's not why he was doing it. The reason he chose this particular guise was the freedom it allowed. It never ceased to amaze him how easily one Kudo Shinichi could navigate around any crime scene virtually unbothered despite the high risks of the given situations. Considering this was simply a 'Kid' heist, it would be a miracle if he was stopped even for a moment while wearing his doppelganger's clothing.

Adjusting his cufflinks and singing gently to himself as he casually strolled down the hallway he would stop before an unmarked door [which as far as he could see by the massive amounts of precautions and security officers] was clearly the Kid Task Force's headquarters for the night.

Without hesitation Kaito burst through the door with little restraint. Although this particular scene was not up to his normal caliber of a show, an audience was in fact an audience. He smirked to himself so gently that not even the best gambler could read the expression as his eyes scanned the sea of shock written on all the faces. All the usual suspects; Mouri Kogoro, Nakamori-keibu, Megure-keibu, Kudo Shinichi, Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, Shirato--  
It was then that Kaito realized the glaring error before him; The huge, day-one, rookie mistake that he prided himself on being far too intelligent to make.

Every atom in his body screamed at him to "run", "flee", "get the HELL out of Dodge" at that very moment, but before he was able to respond to such frivolous neurological impulses he was surprised to find he was already quite sprawled out on the ground [complete with shooting head pain to boot]! Before he was certain what it was that had rendered him in this suddenly compromising state, Kudo had already tackled him and was currently trying [in vain, for the time being] to restrain the thief for reasons Kaito was ill-equip to process so quickly.

Finding himself in such a position, the only thing the young man could think to do was simply fight back. Afterall, it was clear that they were about as evenly matched as anyone [being nearly identical to strangers at first-glance]; he was certain that he was more than able to hold his own against the teenage detective.

It's difficult to say exactly where the first punch came from, but one thing was certain: it was far from the last on either side of the emerging battle on the floor. 

"Kudo-kun! Restrain him!" Megure's distinct timbre seemed to shout off in the distance. Upon hearing this, the thief only smirked as he chuckled lightly into Shinichi's ear:

"I almost have him, Megure-keibu!" Kaito's pitch was spot-on and no one would have suspected him for a moment if Shinichi didn't immediately counter with:

"NO! That's Kid, HELP ME GRAB HIM!"

"Don't let him fool you! He's a master of deception!"

"Exactly! He's trying to throw you off!"

The heads of the bystanders shot back and forth as the fistfight continued on, and only after a short moment [which felt more like an eternity] did Nakamori and Shiratori both grab of the boys respectively and restrained them in handcuffs to prevent any further shots at one another. Naturally, both calmed almost immediately as their similar blue eyes both glanced in the opposite inspectors' general direction, bodies almost entirely relaxed at this point.

"Now." Nakamori began, eyeing the young man in his grasp carefully as he deliberately spoke, "…which one of these boys is the real Kudo, Mouri-tantei?"

The answer came as nothing more than a bored shrug as the middle-aged sleuth groaned:

"What does it matter? Just pick one randomly, either way we're getting rid of a brat!" 

"Dad!" Ran's reprimand came after his snide reply, meanwhile Megure did all he could to suppress a groan:

"…What about you, Ran-kun? You two did grow up together, didn't you?, Think you could pick Kudo-kun out?"

"M-me?" she stumbled over the words slightly taken aback by the inspector's snap assumption; The girl turned her attention to the disgruntled young men restrained before her, "I suppose I could…" 

The entire room's gaze shifted to Ran as she stepped forward to examine the boys closer. She was astonished at how close they appeared to be, even face-to-face. She looked for anything telling—make-up lines, latex, displaced spirit gum, anything really… everything down to the disposition and subtle body language was nothing short of identical to the naked eye.

"Ran, c'mon…" Ran's heart jumped as he one on the right spoke in Shinichi voice, absolutely positive that there could be no mistake she opened her mouth to proclaim he was the genuine detective when the other added:

"Don't let Kid's parlor tricks get the better of you, you KNOW me." Her mouth snapped closed as her eyes widened. This was far more difficult than she would have imagined. Eyes darting back and forth she was ready to just give it up when the first spoke again:

"Your parents! They're separated!"

"What?!" Ran shot a glare at the 'Shinichi' in Shiratori's custody.

"No, no! That wasn't a shot, I'm saying your parents—Kisaki Eri and Mouri Kogoro, the man standing before us to the right of Megure-keibu—have been separated for ten years!" Ran's eyes relaxed as she realized he was simply trying to prove his identity.

"Please, try something that ISN'T a public record, like your favorite color. Red." The boy on the left retorted as he smiled at Ran.

"Like that's enough to prove anything—could be a lucky guess, or a good deduction. Everyone knows you're just as good as anyone else in the room at _that_ game. Try something harder like your fear of the supernatural, or our high school class, 2B!"

"…you grabbed my hand at the top of Mystery Coaster at Tropical Land!"

"How would YOU know about that!?" The young man on the right yelled in shock.

"Oh yeah, great tactic there, Kid, we ALL understand misdirection, something you're obviously great at..."

"Ran, listen;" Shiratori's Shinichi began: "That THING that happened to me that day at Tropical Land. You know, the thing that only you, Haibara, Hattori, Hakase, and my parents know about for sure…if that doesn't prove who I am…"

"…APTX4869." The left-side Shinicihi stepped forward and spoke as Nakamori restrained him almost immediately.

"Just STOP!" Ran cut off both in frustration as she glanced back and forth at the two once again, "Obviously you both know… I mean…"  
She sighed and she collected her thoughts before starting again:

"…I don't know what else to say, since you both seem to know everything I could possibly think to ask you. It just seems futile. Whether it be the destination of your most memorable vacation—"

"Hawaii." The boy on the right replied listlessly.

"Or the significance of May 4th."

"The day Moriarty and Holmes fought at Richenbach." The Shinichi on the left shrugged.

"…AND my birthday!" The right-side retorted excitedly.

Ran blinked quickly as her eyes shot to him with a smile:

"Shiratori-keibu! The young man in your handcuffs is clearly Kaitou Kid!"

"What?!" 'Kid' blinked in surprise, struggling as the officer began to pull him toward the door, no doubt to take him downtown and book him; Meanwhile Nakamori had simultaneously released the Shinichi who had been standing at her left the whole time. He walked over and embraced her for a moment before she spoke to the rest of the room with a soft giggle:

"Shinichi would never remember his own birthday!" 


	2. Epilogue

"…Shinichi?" Ran spoke with hesitation as she cautiously stepped into the dark room.

"Hey Ran."

"Shinichi, I'm so sorry, I—"

"What was it?"

"What?" Ran uncomfortably shifted as Shinichi stood and stretched.

"What was it he did to tip you off?"

"Oh that…" The young woman spoke as she flushed in embarrassment, "Opera."

"Opera?" The teenage detective quirked an eyebrow as he stepped outside of the cell to face her.

"Yeah, he started singing opera."

"So?"

"…singing it well."

"Oh." Shinichi chuckled as he took Ran's hand, "It figures, though."

"What does?" She asked as they began walking out of the police station, followed by a long line of whispers and giggles.

"…the ONE time I remember my birthday." Shinichi smirked, and with a mutual laugh they exited the building hand-in-hand. 


End file.
